


Only the Maiden

by roguewrld



Series: ASOIAF Ficlets [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 05:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguewrld/pseuds/roguewrld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daenerys arrived at Harrenhal expecting stiff resistance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only the Maiden

Harrenhal was huge. Daenerys had heard tales but the scale of it was beyond what she had imagined.

Tyrion rode up beside her. “It cannot be taken from land or sea, but that is not our intention, is it?”

“No, my lord.” Their dragons were circling lazily in the sky above the ruin and she could imagine her ancestors riding in to fell the castle on dragon back. “We would kill many innocent people. You are sure the man that holds this castle cannot be swayed?”

“Ser Bonifer is my father’s loyal man and a devout one. He will not like your Dothraki, your Red Priest and your freemen who pray to more gods than Littlefinger could count.”

“I have to try.” She wheeled Rhaegal around and they flew back towards their camp. The castle had been flying a flag of parlay since dawn, since they had spotted the dragons and she had them fly one in return.

Ser Bonifer himself came to treat with her, in Rhaegal’s shadow, wearing no armor and armed with nothing but an eating knife on his belt. He took one look at her and dropped to one knee. “Your Grace. You have returned to us. The castle and my men are yours.”

Her brother had often said there were people great and small who swore secret toasts in their name, but she had not believed that in so long. “My lord.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “Please, rise and sit with me.”

When their meeting was over, Tyrion sat down heavily in his chair, shock written across his features. “That was… unexpected. Perhaps I have simply become inured to your stunning beauty, perhaps they will all fall in love with you as we travel and there will be no war.”

There is a war but not the one they expected. They fight the darkness and the cold, they fight the Others. When they find Ser Bonifer dead, they bring her the tattered letter he carried close to his heart. It is covered in blood, and largely illegible but it is signed Rhaelle Targaryen.

**Author's Note:**

> When you love a woman as deeply as Bonifer Hasty seems to have loved Rhaelle, I would imagine it compels you to do things in her memory.


End file.
